Off The Cliff
by anissa1999
Summary: A terrible incident happens, and Black Jack blames himself for the entire thing.
1. Chapter 1

Pinoko eyed the radishes carefully, unsure of what to pick. She held a red one in one hand and a white one in the other like she was weighing them. "Hmm..." she said, along with another string of undistinguished mumbles. As she stood there, the shopkeeper behind the counter was beginning to get impatient. Ten minutes had passed by the time he spoke up.

"Just choose already!" he snapped, and Pinoko jumped as she turned to look at him. "You've spent long enough finding a stupid radish!"

She frowned, tossing her eyes from one to the other for a few seconds, then smiled and put both in the bag. "There we go! Thank you, sir!" she said, putting money on the counter and walking off happily.

The shopkeeper stared with confusion at her. "You're...welcome, miss?"

Black Jack had left Pinoko at the house alone for an emergency operation. Figuring he'd be back a few hours later, she gathered ingredients for a dinner they could share.

"Doc's going to love tonight's curry!" she told herself excitedly. "He always does!" She continued to walk along the road, her bag of food swinging carelessly at her side as she moved.

"Hey there, little girl." A man's gruff yet whispery voice suddenly hit Pinoko's ears. Before she could tell him that she wasn't a child at all, the man continued, "Why are you all alone?"

Pinoko, in confusion, flipped around to face the owner of the voice and nearly turned back in surprise. It was a tall, blonde-headed man in a dark coat and jeans. Thick black sunglasses hid his eyes. He had his hands in his pockets. He didn't seem any older than thirty.

"I'm shopping, duh!" Pinoko replied. Then she turned to leave; if she talked any more, Black Jack would surely yell at her again. But the man's icy, skinny fingers grabbed her shoulder and turned her around before she could walk any further. "Ah!"

The stranger frowned at her, and Pinoko had the sudden urge to hit him with a radish, then escape from his grasp and run away screaming bloody murder.

"You're that quack's little assistant, right?" Too scared to talk, Pinoko nodded. "I'll be coming over tonight for an operation," he said quietly. "Be ready." His tone had slowly grown into a cold growl filled with hostile pleasure.

Pinoko tilted her head, her eyebrows narrowed. She hadn't heard anything about this guy. When Black Jack got a new client, he tried his best to tell Pinoko as soon as possible. Either that or she found out herself. But there had been no talk of a man like him that day.

"But Doc won't be here until midnight," she lied. "He can't operate until tomorrow!"

The stranger contemplated this. Then he gave her a toothy grin. "You can operate on me, then," he said. "Better yet, I could do a little surgery on you." He forcefully let go of her shoulder, pushing her back a few inches. "See you later, girly." The man walked away.

Pinoko watched him go, making sure he didn't do anything else to her. Was he serious about what he said? If so, she had to call Black Jack about it right away. But before she left, she noticed something black and glistening bulging out of his back pocket.

It was a pistol. Most likely loaded, too.

"He wants to shoot me!" Pinoko shrieked, ignoring the stares she got from multiple adults. "Acchonburike!" With that, she ran away in the direction of the house.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour had passed, and Pinoko was still thinking about the stranger she had met earlier that day. She stood on her stool, next to the stove, stirring a pot of curry. Largo sat next to her with the same worried glance. There were broth splashes all over the counter and floor thanks to her shaking hands.

"What if he's coming right now?" she muttered. "What if he does want to shoot me? What if the door isn't locked? What if he has a dangerous eight-foot-long pocket knife, too? What if-" A bowl dropped to the floor and shattered on impact. The pieces spread across the floor, even to the far corners.

Pinoko stared at the shards, thankfully unscathed. She let out a huff of relief and frustration, then hopped down from her stool to get the broom. Usually she didn't drop any dishes when she was upset; this was a bad sign. When it happened, she was surprised at how much of a coward she'd turned out to be that day.

The phone started ringing before she made it to the broom. Hoping it was Black Jack, Pinoko ran to the phone and quickly picked it up. "Doc, is that you?" she asked in between breaths, her voice filled with worry.

"Pinoko, why are you breathing so hard?" It was Black Jack.

She cleared her throat, then continued in a jumbled run-on sentence. "There's a guy that I saw at noon with blonde hair and sunglasses and he told me he would be coming here for some help and even though I told him you're not here he's still going to come and when he turned around there was a gun in his pocket and I know he's going to come and shoot me and please hurry home soon and-"

Black Jack interrupted her before she lost a vocal cord. "Pinoko." His voice was stern, yet calm. "I'm pretty sure that there's no guy that coming to kill you. I think you're overreacting."

"Overreacting?!" Did he just call her a drama queen? She was sure he was thinking it. "You call worrying about both your's and mine's health overreacting? What if he's going to come and you're not here to protect me? As my husband, you should know better."

The doctor sighed. "I'll be home in an hour. I just have to check on a few things. The stranger can wait for me, right?"

Pinoko didn't catch the sarcasm in his voice and cried, "Strangers aren't going to wait for you, Doc! They can come at any moment. I-" There was a loud thud at the door. Pinoko jumped, letting out a gasp of fright, and dropped the phone. She froze in her spot.

Thud.

"Pinoko?" No answer. "Pinoko!"

Thud.

Doc hung up the phone. But Pinoko didn't notice, as she was shaking and silent where she stood. Was it the stranger? Or Largo just hitting the door wanting to go to the bathroom?

Thud.

Then again, if it was a patient, she didn't want to keep them waiting. It was probably an emergency. Pinoko just prayed to God that it wasn't the stranger and hurried to the door. Trembling, she turned the knob and slowly opened it.

A tall man with blonde hair and sunglasses loomed in the doorway. In his hand was a shining silver gun.

"Hey, girly. I thought I'd come a bit early." He held up the gun, his smile gleaming and haunting.

Pinoko screamed and ran the other way.


End file.
